REVIEW: 'Wicked' brings timely message with spectacular entertainment

Friday

Jun 9, 2017 at 2:55 PMJun 14, 2017 at 7:17 AM

By Iris Fanger, For The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON - “Wicked,” the blockbuster musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, is back in town for its fifth visit, and it’s still the thriller of a theatrical evening that it has been since opening on Broadway in 2003.

The musical’s story is based on Concord author Gregory Maguire’s 1995 imaginative revisionist novel that takes a different look at the characters and land in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and Frank L. Baum’s 1900 children’s book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and its sequels. The musical has been seen by more than 50 million worldwide since it first burst onto stage. The show recently celebrated its 13th anniversary on Broadway where it continues to run at the Gershwin Theatre.

The Boston Opera House was packed at Wednesday night’s press opening of the current Boston engagement. Faithful theatergoers whooped with glee at the familiar songs and marveled at the elements of spectacle that enhance the compelling story. It’s the tale of the unlikely bond between Elphaba, aka “the Wicked Witch of the West,” and Glinda The Good, their sisterhood, as well as social justice, good and evil, and the rewards of following one’s heart and best instincts.

In case you’ve spent the last 14 years in a cave, “Wicked” relates how Elphaba, born to be an outsider because of her green skin, and Galinda (later Glinda) the golden girl with blond curly hair, a cutesy manner and truckload of friends, are thrust by accident into being roommates at college in Oz. At first they loathe each other, but gradually become friends when Elphaba convinces headmistress Madame Morrible to include Galinda in a seminar to learn magic.

Elphaba has a mysterious power that she doesn’t understand until she is given a book of spells only she can read. The best friends go off to meet the Wizard, but Elphaba discovers he is a charlatan who deludes his people by blaming their problems on the animals.

When Elphaba realizes that she must oppose the Wizard, he gives out the fake news that she is “Wicked.” Elphaba and Glinda battle over their classmate, the sexy Prince Fiyero — who none-the-less has a brain and moral backbone. When Glinda loses him, she decides to stay on the Wizard’s team. Their adventures include several references to Dorothy, who never appears on stage but fits obliquely into the theatrical version.

The best news about this repeat visit of “Wicked” is that the production values remain pristine in their excellence, with an A-plus cast led by Jessica Vosk as the feisty, intelligent and ethical Elphaba, and Ginna Claire Mason as the glamorous but somewhat dim-bulbed Glinda. They both have glorious voices, and I challenge anyone to sit unmoved at Elphaba’s Act I curtain number, “Defying Gravity,” perhaps the most popular song from the score.

Broadway veterans Isabel Keating as Madam Morrible, who becomes the Wizard’s press secretary, and Fred Applegate as the Wizard, who hides his self-serving motives behind an affable manner, bring a reassuring counterpoint to the romantic triangle of the younger characters. Jeremy Woodard as Fiyero cuts an appealing figure as the loose-living Prince who follows Elphaba to the end.

Given the current turmoil at the top in our nation, it is hard not to find parallels to modern times in the ruling style of the platitude-mouthing Wizard as he attempts to marginalize one group to distract the citizens of Oz from his selfish intentions. How eerie and prophetic that Maguire published his book decades ago, followed by the 2003 launch of “Wicked” on the American stage to become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. But aside from the politics, and the universal satisfaction at the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, “Wicked” still holds as one of the most satisfying evenings in the theater to be found. I hadn’t seen the show in over a decade, but I was no different from the children around me, sitting spellbound for nearly three hours of enthralling sight, sound and spectacle.

Iris Fanger is a freelance writer. Follow us on Twitter @WickedLocalArts for more stories about theater, art, music and more.